A majority (43 percent) say they heard about the cloud from commercials, both on TV and online from companies such as Google, Apple and Amazon.com. This is followed closely by family, friends and co-workers (39 percent), online articles (38 percent) and online advertisements (32 percent).

While overall awareness of cloud-base services is low, consumers appear to notice the conversations about cloud services, even if their attention is slight. Perhaps even more noteworthy, consumers say their familiarity with the cloud is based largely by associating cloud services with specific brands.

This is especially true of services offering storage of movies and music. Consumers are clearly influenced by advertising and marketing (to varying degrees) and as such, cloud service providers should incorporate advertising as a central component to their marketing and outreach efforts.

When asked about terms or phrases consumers felt best describes the cloud services they have used in the past 12 months, close to half (44 percent) chose “convenient” followed by “free” and “storage” (37 percent). These selections suggest consumers largely associate free storage with the cloud.

When consumers take advantage of cloud services, they find the services very convenient. In addition, consumers generally find cloud services reliable and fast. This is another positive note for both cloud providers and the industry as a whole.
Q. Which of the following words or phrases, if any, would you use to describe the cloud services you have used in the past 12 months?

What about future cloud usage? When asked what cloud service(s) consumers might use in the future, respondent’s ranked “ease of use,” “reliability” and “free” as the most important qualities for their future cloud service.
Q. Please indicate how important or not important each of the following reasons are to your decision to use cloud services.